Candidate (Selected Book 4) (22 page)

"That's what I was afraid of. The human wins if she's free for an hour. If you can hold me here, you eventually win."

"I'm going to enjoy my blanket."

"Don't get too warm yet," she said. Then we both looked up into the sky. It was hot.

"We can't stay out here forever," I said. "I'm going to burn, and I'm sweating. I'm glad I don't have to do the laundry. What are you going to do?"

"Try something risky." She stepped all the way to the far end of the platform, and then just as it began moving from its furthest to its closest position, she began running straight at me.

"Oh shit!" I crouched down, prepared to take her charge, my staff out in front of me. I thought she was going to run right through me. But right at the end she leapt, grabbing the overhead structure with one hand, and attempting to swing past me, over my head.

I let her, sort of. I reached up with my staff and shoved, and instead of landing square on the walkway behind me, she was off balance and slid off the side.

"Yes!" I yelled, pumping my fist. I moved to the edge and peered over. Clover was suspended in the air, just like I had been. "Point to the human. Take that, Catseye!"

"Well done, Andromeda," she said. "Wait there."

And then I laughed as Dark Skies lifted the Catseye by her ankles, and she was carried back to her start the same way I was.

She didn't scream, but she wasn't exactly quiet about it, either.

"Good one, Dark Skies," I said, still laughing. But I found it disappointing Clover never dropped her staff.

She made her way back to me and was soon back on the swaying bridge. "Want another easy point, Human?" she called out.

"Sure. I'll wait right here."

"We're supposed to be testing the event, and we'll test what needs testing."

"Sure. I'll wait right here."

"We'll do one more point here then move to the next section."

"Wait, wait. Don't tell me. The suspension bridge thingie." I pointed.

"Exactly."

I sighed. "Fine." I lifted my staff. "Come and get it, Catseye!"

She timed it and ran to me. I thought she was going to do the same thing she did last time. Instead, right at the edge, she stopped herself with one hand on the supporting wires, right at the edge, and she poked at me with the staff, catching me right in the chest. I flew backwards not from the power of the strike so much as the pain in my chest. The bridge began moving away, but Clover leapt the gap, landing off balance.

If I'd been better balanced myself, I could have pushed her right off, but by the time I recovered my balance, she was swinging for me. I went on the defensive, but then I ducked down, falling to the walkway. I swung for her ankles, connecting, and she began to fall.

I helped.

Two for the human, and I got to laugh as she was carried back to her start.

"You know where to meet me, Andromeda! And I'm going to get you, Dark Skies. I swear I am."

I thought about retreating to the rope bridge on my side, but instead I hopped onto the moving platform, then to the center, then again, and then I was on her side for the first time. We met at opposite ends of the wood and rope bridge structure. I eyed it nervously.

"The rest of our points are here," she said.

"This is the last point," I said. "I can already feel that blanket wrapped around me." I stepped onto the rickety platform, and then so did she.

I didn't like it. It was bad with just me, but with both of us, it wobbled back and forth, and I didn't like it at all. I crouched low and moved slowly. Clover made it to the middle long before I did, and she looked far more confident than I felt.

I reached the middle, just out of thrusting range of our staffs. She offered a small bow to me.

And then she began bouncing the bridge.

"Stop that," I screamed, dropping to hands and knees. I barely kept my staff, and I clutched one slat, trying to hold on. "Stop that!"

She didn't stop. Instead, she began bouncing unevenly. At any point, I think she could have pushed me off with her staff. But instead she simply bounced me right off.

At least I kept my staff this time.

Dark Skies lifted me upside down into the air, then she turned me so I was facing Clover, our eyes at about the same height, with ten feet separating us.

"Funny, Dark Skies," I called out. "Very funny."

"I think we'll keep this," Clover said. "The human won't be foolish enough to fight here twice. But I don't like the other one. I'm going to make a change. You have a choice. You can hand me one more easy point here, or we can test my change."

"Oh, we'll test your change," I said. "Assuming you're the one who is on the moving bridge."

"Agreed. I'll meet you there."

And then Dark Skies lifted me into the air, higher and higher.

"This isn't funny!" I called. "Oh god, don't drop me. Please, don't drop me."

"I wouldn't drop you," she whispered into my ear.

I looked down then slammed my eyes closed and whimpered. "This isn't funny."

"It's part of the handicap," she said. "Higher each time. It was the human's idea."

I didn't open my eyes until she lowered me into the cage at the beginning.

* * * *

I approached the end of the platform, right before the swaying bridge. Clover was waiting for me. She looked relaxed.

"You'll want to stop there," she said.

"Oh, I don't think so."

"Suit yourself."

I stepped to the end of the platform. She stood casually at the middle of the swaying bridge, but then as it approached, my feet began to hurt, and then the pain moved up my legs. I began screaming and fell onto the platform. And like that, the pain shut off. I lay there on my side, panting.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I warned you," she said. "I was going to explain, but you got cocky."

I sat up. "That's cheating."

"The meter nearest the bridge does that. It begins as the bridge moves closer and fades as the bridge moves away."

I quickly scrambled away from the end, still sitting on my ass. "It stopped when I fell."

"Dark Skies turned it off," Clover replied. "Did you notice how it started in your feet and then moved up?"

"Yes. Not nice, Clover."

"I tried to warn you," she said.

"I suppose you did." I climbed to my feet. "Three feet?"

"A meter. Just over three feet."

"That's probably not enough for you," I said. I eyed the distance, moving closer, coming to a stop when I thought I was four feet from the end, a one-foot safety margin. From here, I thought I could keep her from gaining ground.

"If it's not enough, we'll make it a meter and a half," she said. "This is our last point."

I nodded. I wasn't feeling very confident I'd be getting my blanket.

We lifted our staffs. She walked to the end. As she approached, I thrust at her, but she turned my staff aside and stepped onto the still platform. Then she was inside my reach, but she managed to tap my side three times with her staff, and I went flying into the air beside the platform.

Then I hung there. "Didn't that hurt?" I asked.

"Yes, but I didn't linger."

"Congratulations, Clover. You can put me down, Dark Skies."

"I am satisfied with the event now," said Clover. "I will meet you at the exit."

Then without waiting, she turned around and walked away.

"Andromeda," said Dark Skies. "The human in this event has a hobby."

"You can tell me all about it later."

"It is applicable now. She has gone all over your country, experiencing roller coaster after roller coaster."

"Oh god. Please. You wouldn't."

"If you close your eyes, I get to shake you. You won't like it." Then she lifted me by my ankles, higher and higher.

"Some humans like to do something called bungie jumping," said Dark Skies. "Others use something called parachutes."

"Oh god. Please don't."

She dropped me.

I began screaming immediately, flailing all my limbs as I fell. Of course, she caught me, and at the end she tipped me right side up and set my feet on the ground as gentle as could be.

And a short while after that, I stopped screaming.

"Please do not be angry," Dark Skies said into my ears. "The human's opponent does not know she is fond of this. This was an offered handicap in exchange for something the human needed to have even a chance in the arena. Her challenger was watching, and he is smiling. He will be over-confident."

I muttered. "Don't be angry," she said. "Drops me from the sky, but I'm not supposed to be angry. You have a mean sense of humor, Dark Skies. I'm of a half a mind to cancel our meal."

"If you do," she said, "I'll..."

"You'll what?"

"Cry."

"You will not!"

"I will," she said. "I promise to make it up to you."

"How will you do that?"

"By making you tell me everything you've always wanted to tell a lover but were too repressed to tell her."

"Oh god!"

"And then I'll do them, or at least some of them."

"Oh god," I repeated.

After we ran the event for the mating candidate and her challenger -- she won -- Clover ordered me to return to my cell via the showers. And so I found myself -- annoyingly naked but clean and refreshed -- sitting on the bed.

I used the time on my visor, reading more about my four women. I had an hour, and I filled it.

Clothing arrived, and it was another of the skintight jumpers, boots, sunblock, and another of the floppy hats. I dressed quickly, and then my guards were there to escort me.

* * * *

"Hello, Soft Rain," I said when I could see. I was hugged in the chair with my arms restrained by the table. Over time, I would grow accustomed.

It wasn't Jasmine in the room with us, however. It was Clover. "Is this necessary?" I asked, looking down.

"You are a mating candidate and will be treated like one," she said. "I am helping you to select your challenge, but it will be Dark Skies who runs it. Do either of you have objections?"

I shook my head.

I turned to look at the Wookie. "I have a demand."

"Mating candidates do not frequently find their demands met," said Clover. "And are frequently punished for making them."

"In the future, I expect to be hugged by you before being pushed into this chair, unless you are not in the room. If you walk into a room and I am already like this, then you will find a way to hug me anyway."

She rumbled. "It would be my pleasure, Andromeda." She rose from her chair and walked around. Then she knelt beside my chair and wrapped her arms around me. I turned to her, and I pressed my forehead to hers.

"That's better," I whispered.

"We have not had our first challenge, and you already ask for more."

"You have the sexist voice I've ever heard," I replied. "It makes me swoon."

She rumbled again.

"So does that," I added.

She caressed my cheek as she pulled away.

I turned to Clover. "I do not know what our challenge is, but I will request proper hugs shortly before the start of each of them. If that is impractical due to the nature of the challenges, I understand."

"We'll work it in when feasible," she said. "Otherwise we will allow your hugs prior to departure."

"Thank you," I said.

"Your challenger has requested permission to hunt you."

"No," I said. "She asked for a hunt. I presume she was asking me to hunt her."

The Wookie rumbled. "I believe you are attempting to tease me."

I smiled. "I'm not sure I would have accepted a challenge if I realized you wished to hunt me. We're on Earth, after all, and you're the one who looks like something a human would hunt."

Again she rumbled. "This land belongs to the Federation of Allied Planets and carries the same legal status as an embassy. That means it is Federation land. And on Federation land, it is the Wookies that hunt the humans. Which I believe you knew."

I laughed. "Fine. But it needs to be fair. I'm not remotely a challenge for you."

"Do you allow me to make this challenge?" Clover asked.

"Yes. But no shock sticks. And it needs to be fair, or at least close to fair. And I want some good exercise out of it."

"Is a ten kilometer run too far for you?"

"That's about six miles?" I asked. I didn't run much, but I bicycled a lot. Six miles on a bike was nothing. "No, I think I could run ten kilometers. But if this is a race, she'll win."

"It is a hunt," she said. "We will use the same arena you witnessed the first day."

"The one where Soft Rain's brother won Emma?"

"That's the one," Clover replied. "You both have some familiarity with the land now. You will be dropped at one starting point. Your challenger at the other. Freedom is to the north. Your visor will display your location. Soft Rain's will give the distance to you and an approximate direction, but not precisely."

"She's going to catch me for sure," I said. "She'll just wait for me."

"No. She won't know where your exit is, and she won't be able to see it."

"Wookies do not lie in wait, Andromeda," said Soft Rain. "I'll be actively hunting for you."

I laughed. "All right. But she's still going to win. I saw how fast she can move."

"There will be obstacles," Clover said. "If you encounter one, you will be punished through some unpleasant fashion, but not one that slows you significantly. But we will delay Soft Rain. Furthermore, we'll let you see them, but we won't let her. You can lure her into them, and they will be common."

"Oh," I said. "Now I like it."

"To even this out and add a little more excitement, once she is on your trail, she'll be able to follow it much like you follow the trail back to your cell."

"Which means she'll walk right through anything I walk through."

"Or try to stay to the side," Clover said. "Or she may ignore the trail marker entirely. Who can guess the mind of a Wookie? Questions?"

"I have a request," I said. "I love her voice. Could we talk to each other? This is supposed to be together time, after all."

"I'd like that," said Soft Rain. We both turned to Clover.

"Of course. I will treat that as a permanent request for your challenges."

"Thank you," I said with a smile. "How soon can the arena be ready?"

"Dark Skies is ready," Clover replied. "I'm going to let Soft Rain escort you to the jumper, unless you have other questions."

"Hug first?"

"Definitely a hug first."

A moment later she blinded my visor. The chair released me, and I stood. Then I felt arms and tentacles enveloping me. Clover held me longer than a human would normally hug, but I didn't mind.

Then Soft Rain collected me and led me to the jumper.

* * * *

We landed and she pulled me from the jumper and then into her arms. "Thank you, Andromeda," she said. "I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to this."

"I am, too," I replied. "Do you think you'll get caught by the traps?"

"Undoubtedly a few," she replied. "If it's too many, you'll win, but otherwise I believe I will."

Then, slowly, she released me. A moment later, she pressed my hands into one of the stone pillars.

"Good luck, Andromeda," she said. "Try to make it a good hunt."

"I play to win, Soft Rain, but I'm looking forward to our evening either way."

"As am I. I've never owned a human before."

I laughed.

I didn't hear her fly away.

"So," I said after a moment. "Are you here, Dark Rain?"

"I am," came her voice. "This should be a good event and better than the one yesterday."

"I had a good time yesterday, and I like Jessica."

"I think you like Soft Rain more."

"And I like you more too, but I enjoyed my time with Jessica."

"You seem to have thawed Clover."

"So I have," I agreed.

"Soft Rain is at her start. There's a backpack at your feet. It has water, energy bars, and a small first aid kit."

"Then I'm ready."

"Patching the two of you together." There was a pause. "Both of you say 'hello'."

"Hello, Soft Rain."

"Hello, my little human prey."

I laughed.

"Ready, go!"

The stone released me, and the visor brightened. I looked down and grabbed the backpack, shrugging into it. Then I oriented myself and took the path leading due north.

It didn't take long until I was panting, and I had to slow down. I could also hear the Wookie breathing as she ran. "Talk to me, sexy voice."

She rumbled. "Sexy voice, is it?"

"Positively dreamy," I said. "Who would have realized a walking rug could have such a yummy voice?"

"I am not a walking rug."

"Oh, I think you are."

"I am a
running
rug, and I'm getting closer. And I do not believe you read a map very well."

We talked, teasing each other, although I grew sufficiently winded that talking was difficult. The Wookie did better. "Will you tell me how you chose your name?"

"A human gave it to me," she said. "She said my voice was like a soft rain."

"Your laugh sounds like distant thunder," I said. "I like that, too."

And she rumbled at me.

"That path is a dead end, human prey," she said. "I thought you would give me a good hunt. Maybe I should catch you and let you go a few times."

"You may try," I said.

I reached the cliff. I didn't even slow down. Nor did I scream.

Dark Skies caught me easily, bringing me to a gentle stop well above the jungle below. "I have to punish you for that," she said.

"But then you have to let me go," I replied. "Not leave me hanging."

"Oh, I won't leave you hanging," she said.

And then she flipped me over and lifted me by my ankles.

"No!" I screamed. "No!"

"Little human?" said Soft Rain. "Are you in trouble?"

"The Octal has a nasty sense of humor!" I complained. "Dark Skies, don't do this!"

She lifted me high into the air, and then she dropped me. That time, I screamed. And I screamed again and again, as she dropped me a total of three times. But at the end of the third, she lowered me gently to the ground.

"Punishment, Andromeda," she said.

I knelt on the ground, my heart pounding, and I said nothing for a while. Finally, my heart slowed, and I stood.

"If she choses to go around, you gained twenty minutes. If she jumps like you did, I'll slow her for five minutes longer than I slowed you."

I took off, jogging now instead of running. Soft Rain and I were both quiet, but then she asked, "Are you all right, Andromeda?"

"Yes. Just a good fright. Are you on my back trail yet?"

"I am not sure I wish to tell you. You jumped from the cliff, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You should have taken one of the perimeter paths instead."

"I don't think so. You're going to lose time following me."

"Ah, but I was still three kilometers away when you jumped."

"Oh shit!" I said. I put on a burst of speed. The map showed an east-west path directly ahead, and as soon as I reached it, I turned east and ran as hard as I could. Maybe I was about to run into her, or maybe I was putting distance between us.

Soft Rain rumbled at me. "Good choice," she said.

"How can you tell what choice I made?"

"You stopped running directly towards me," she replied. "I'll be on your trail soon."

But then on the trail ahead of me I saw what was clearly a pit, and I ran straight into it.

Again I fell. Dark Skies didn't catch me, but I fell slowly, landing at the bottom.

The pit was at least ten feet deep, possibly deeper, with solid sides. I thought perhaps the sides could be climbed, but it was going to take time.

"You have a choice," Dark Skies said. "I can help you out, or you can climb out. If I help, then you'll take a punishment."

"Going to drop me again?"

"Not this time."

"She'll be on me if you don't help. I'll take the help and the punishment."

Immediately the pit began to fill. It wasn't water. It was thicker than that and dark. "You'll float," Dark Skies said. "Lie back as it rises and don't struggle. You'll want to make sure you don't get any on your face, Andromeda."

I let it rise and rise, and then I lay back as she said, spreading my arms widely.

The pit rose, and rose quickly for such a large pit, but I was held at the surface.

"Just like that, Andromeda. Don't move. And don't brush at your face or let it drop from your hair into your face."

"Is it poisonous?"

"No. Trust me."

The pit filled, and then she actually lifted me into the air, but only a short distance, setting me down on the path at the far side of the pit. When I looked, the pit was already draining again.

"Listen carefully. Don't brush your face. Whatever happens, don't touch your face. I'm pretty sure you'll freak out if you do. They won't bite you. They don't care for the taste of human. They just want the food."

"Food?"

From either side, down at the ground, there was motion, and when I looked, swarms of ants emerged onto the path from either side. And then I heard buzzing besides.

"Oh shit!" I said. I began to run, but the ants were everywhere, and soon they were climbing up my legs. And in the air, some sort of flying insects appeared, descending on me.

I began screaming, trying to shake them off, and still running, running in blind panic.

I tripped and fell, and then they were all over me, everywhere, all over. I swatted and swatted, but there were more and more.